Lenihan rules out hike in corporate tax rate

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has ruled out any increase to Ireland’s corporation tax but confirmed other tax hikes will form part of the next budget.

As the Government prepares to present the EU with a plan for four more years of harsh budgets, Mr Lenihan’s department said the minister had “acknowledged that taxation will form part of the solution” to the black hole in the public finances.

And public servants might have to brace themselves for pay cuts after his younger brother, junior minister Conor Lenihan, signalled the unravelling of the Croke Park agreement.